The 4th Virginia Volunteer Cavalry Regiment was a cavalry

Cavalry

Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...

 regiment

Regiment

A regiment is a major tactical military unit, composed of variable numbers of batteries, squadrons or battalions, commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel...

 raised in Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

 for service in the Confederate States Army

Confederate States Army

The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...

 during the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

. It fought mostly with the Army of Northern Virginia

Army of Northern Virginia

The Army of Northern Virginia was the primary military force of the Confederate States of America in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War, as well as the primary command structure of the Department of Northern Virginia. It was most often arrayed against the Union Army of the Potomac...

.

The Virginia 4th Cavalry completed its organization at Sangster's Cross Roads, Prince William County, Virginia

Prince William County, Virginia

-National protected areas:* Featherstone National Wildlife Refuge* Manassas National Battlefield Park* Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge* Prince William Forest Park-Government and politics:...

, in September, 1861. Its members were recruited in the counties of Prince William, Chesterfield, Madison, Culpeper, Powhatan, Goochland

Goochland County, Virginia

Goochland County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2010, the population was 21,717. Its county seat is Goochland. It is located in the Richmond-Petersburg region and is a portion of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area ....

, Hanover, Fauquier, Buckingham, and the city of Richmond.

The unit was assigned to General J.E.B. Stuart's, F.Lee's, Wickham's, and Munford's Brigade, Army of Northern Virginia. It participated in the Battle of Williamsburg, the Seven Days' Battles, and the Second Bull Run and Maryland campaigns. Later the unit was involved in the conflicts at Fredericksburg, Kelly's Ford, Chancellorsville, Brandy Station, Upperville, Gettysburg, Bristoe, Mine Run, The Wilderness, Todd's Tavern, Spotsylvania, Wilson's Wharf, Haw's Shop, and Bethesda Church. The 4th went on to fight in the Shenandoah Valley with Early and around Appomattox.

It totaled 450 effectives in April, 1862, and lost about three percent of the 544 engaged at Gettysburg. After cutting through the Federal lines at Appomattox, it was broken up. Only 2 members were present at the surrender. The field officers were Colonels Stephen D. Lee

Stephen D. Lee

Stephen Dill Lee was an American soldier, planter, legislator, and author. He was the youngest Confederate lieutenant general during the American Civil War, and later served as the first president of Mississippi A&M College...

, William H. F. Payne

William H. F. Payne

William Henry Fitzhugh Payne was a general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War.-Early life:...

, Beverly Robertson

Beverly Robertson

Beverly Holcombe Robertson was a cavalry officer in the United States Army on the Western frontier and a Confederate general during the American Civil War.-Early life:...

, William C. Wickham, and W.B. Wooldridge; Lieutenant Colonels Charles Old and Robert Randolph; and Majors Alexander M. Hobson and Robert E. Utterback.

Future Virginia governor Philip W. McKinney

Philip W. McKinney

Philip Watkins McKinney was an American politician who served as the 41st Governor of Virginia from 1890 to 1894. Born in New Store, in Buckingham County, he attended Hampden-Sydney College, graduating in the class of 1851. McKinney served as a Confederate officer in the American Civil War in...

 was an officer in Company K of the 4th Virginia.

VMI Superintendent Scott Shipp

Scott Shipp

Scott Shipp was an American military figure, Confederate States Army officer, educator and educational administrator born in Warrenton, Virginia...

 is said to have served as a private in the 4th Virginia, though no official record exists.

Beverley Randolph Mason

Beverley Randolph Mason

Beverley Randolph Mason was a renowned educator and founder and principal of the Gunston Hall School for young women in Washington, D.C. Mason was a great-grandson of George Mason, author of the Virginia Bill of Rights....

, the future founder of Gunston Hall School for Young Women in Washington, D.C., became a captain in command of a company of the 4th Virginia.

Company D was known as the Little Fork Rangers after the Little Fork Church

Little Fork Church

Little Fork Church stands on a low knoll to the east of State Route 229 nine miles north of Culpeper, Virginia in a small grove of trees that enhances its naturally pastoral setting. The name Little Fork is taken from the junction of the Hazel and Rappahannock Rivers relatively close to the...

in Culpeper County, and Company F was known as the Goochland Light Dragoons.